Monthly Archives: December 2019

“Rep. Lori Trahan’s campaign finances will be investigated further by House Ethics Committee”

December 18, 2019, 9:12 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Boston Globe: The House Ethics Committee said Tuesday it is conducting a further probe of Representative Lori Trahan after investigators found “substantial reason to believe” she violated campaign finance laws in her upset election victory in 2018. Investigators with the… Continue reading

“Couple Pleads Guilty To Voting In N.H. And Mass. During 2016 Election”

December 18, 2019, 9:09 amchicaneryRick Hasen

NHPR: A couple who split their time between New Hampshire and Massachusetts pled guilty on Monday to charges that they voted in both states during the November 2016 election. The New Hampshire Attorney General’s office indicted Grace and John S.… Continue reading

“Right-Wing PAC Loses Challenge to Illinois Campaign-Finance Ban”

December 17, 2019, 8:22 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Courthouse News Service: The Seventh Circuit on Monday rejected a conservative PAC’s challenge to an Illinois law banning direct campaign contributions by independent expenditure committees, citing the need to curb corruption.The Illinois Liberty PAC is an independent expenditure committee founded… Continue reading

“Midland County officials just found a missing ballot box. It may change the result of a $569 million bond election.”

December 17, 2019, 8:15 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Texas Tribune: A proposal for a $569 million bond to build two new high school buildings in Midland failed by 25 votes in the November election, a margin slim enough it set off calls for a recount.The ballots were recounted… Continue reading

“Russian disinformation network said to have helped spread smear of U.S. ambassador to Ukraine”

December 17, 2019, 8:13 amcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

WaPo: The story that appeared on The Hill website on March 20 was startling.Marie Yovanovitch, the American ambassador to Ukraine, had given a “list of people whom we should not prosecute” to Ukraine’s prosecutor general, Yuriy Lutsenko, according to… Continue reading

“How Partisan Gerrymandering Prevents Legislative Action on Gun Violence”

December 17, 2019, 8:11 amredistrictingRick Hasen

CAP report.

Interview with Me on the State of American Democracy, from the Producers of the Documentary “Rigged: The Voter Suppression Handbook”

December 17, 2019, 8:09 amThe Voting WarsRick Hasen

You can watch here: https://vimeo.com/377118923

New Cert. Petition Challenges Montana’s Rules for Regulating Political Committees That Avoid Express Advocacy

December 16, 2019, 8:24 pmcampaign finance, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Read the cert. petition in National Association for Gun Rights v. Mangan.

“A black woman faces prison because of a Jim Crow-era plan to ‘protect white voters’”

December 16, 2019, 1:01 pmfelon votingRick Hasen

The Guardian: Bratcher faces up to 19 months in prison because she did not realize she had actually been stripped of the right to vote. Her lawyer says she’s being punished based on a Jim Crow-era law that was intended… Continue reading

“U.S. Supreme Court Won’t Hear California Ballot Access Case”

December 16, 2019, 12:57 pmballot accessRick Hasen

BAN reports.

“$425M allocated for election security in government funding deal”

December 16, 2019, 12:55 pmvoting technologyRick Hasen

The Hill: The spending deal agreed upon by House and Senate negotiators includes $425 million for states to improve their election security, two congressional source confirmed to The Hill on Monday.According to the sources, the appropriations deal, set to be… Continue reading

“Jim Crow As Kafka: Voter Suppression on the Ground”

December 16, 2019, 10:54 amThe Voting Wars, voter idRick Hasen

Jonathan Zasloff has posted this paper on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Requiring photo identification before voting has generated fiercely contested litigation and scholarly literature. This Article attempts to move the debate forward by examining how precisely Voter ID works… Continue reading

“Constitutional Law and the Presidential Nomination Process”

December 16, 2019, 10:50 ampolitical parties, primariesRick Hasen

Richard Briffault has posted this draft on SSRN (forthcoming, The Best Candidate: Presidential Nomination in Polarized Times (Eugene D. Mazo and Michael R. Dimino, eds., Cambridge Univ. Press 2020)). Here is the abstract: The Constitution says nothing about the presidential… Continue reading

Election Meltdown Book, Book Tour, and Related Event/Ad Hoc Commission

December 16, 2019, 9:07 amElection MeltdownRick Hasen

I am pleased to report that my book Election Meltdown will be published on February 4 (preorders; book website at electionmeltdown.com). Here is a brief description from the publisher: “A hard-hitting critique of the American election process… Continue reading